PAUSE with Sam Jay
Talk show abandons traditional format, has adult language.
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PAUSE with Sam Jay
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A Lot or a Little?
The parents' guide to what's in this TV show.
What Parents Need to Know
Parents need to know that PAUSE with Sam Jay is a talk show hosted by stand-up comedian and Saturday Night Live staff writer Sam Jay. PAUSE totally overhauls the traditional talk show format in favor of a more organic, conversational tone. Each episode tackles a cultural topic such as the ideas of "selling out" or "cancel culture." PAUSE is best suited for adults or older teenagers, as the choice to go for a more unedited discussion translates to a good deal of unfiltered language, including frequent use of racial slurs such as the N-word. There are also many scenes where partygoers drink alcohol. While most shows that take on discussions of race and politics are branded as controversial, PAUSE intentionally feels more like listening to friends vent their frustrations.
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What's the Story?
PAUSE WITH SAM JAY opens with a long stretch of most unedited party footage, where friends arrive one by one as a medley of conversations intersperse with each other. At one moment, they're discussing vaccinations, and at the next, it's going to space -- all without formal transitions. This party setting provides grounding for the fluid format, as comments made during the party discussion segue into an interview with two self-described "pro-Black conservatives." Impressively, the tone still remains just as casual, with Jay not only giving the floor to the guests to speak freely but also asking truly thoughtful and respectful questions. Jay is honest in saying she disagrees with them, but the group ends up realizing that none of them really align with a political party, wondering why they can't just start their own.
Is It Any Good?
Sam Jay spent years defining her own brand of comedy as a stand-up before rising to fame, and carefully laying that groundwork comes to fruition with her tradition-breaking late-night talk show. In PAUSE, there's no desk, no studio, and no preconceived notions; it's at once totally accessible but not trying to cater to the widest audience possible. Sam Jay is just Sam Jay, and her target audience is whoever wants to listen to her.
Jay isn't trying to change people's minds or tell them what to do. She just wants to live her life, do her work, and be who she is. If the discussions on PAUSE do change people's minds, great. If someone resonates with what they hear and it makes things easier to deal with, great. If not, Jay doesn't really care, as long as she makes an entertaining show. In one of the party scenes where Jay is talking about her feelings on social and moral authority in recent years ("Who is Black Twitter? Why do they get to tell me what to do?"), a white male-presenting party guest nervously asks if he can interject. Jay responds by honestly asking if he has anything to add to the conversation. She's not trying to tell him he can't interject, but wants him to think before he does so. A point is made without her explicitly making one, and she trusts her audience to figure this out themselves.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about the use of language on television, in particular racialized language. Why do certain words have power? What's the historical context for that? Why are these words labeled as explicit, and furthermore, what are the reasons for any words to be labeled explicit?
Talk to your kids about expectations and labels. What does Jay mean when she says that people expect her to act a certain way when they perceive her as a Black, gay woman? What do you think those expectations are?
Talk to your kids about political parties in America. A common theme in the pilot episode of PAUSE is simply not agreeing with either of the two dominant political parties in U.S. politics. Why do we have two dominant parties? What are the advantages to having two parties? What do party systems look like in parliamentary countries such as the U.K.?
TV Details
- Premiere date: May 21, 2021
- Cast: Sam Jay
- Network: HBO Max
- Genre: Variety Show
- TV rating: TV-MA
- Last updated: March 2, 2022
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